Lights, camera, action!

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We’d seen camera cars before but not one based on a Rolls-Royce Phantom! So when this picture of one outside the Pinewood Studios crossed our path we thought we should share it with you. Look at that! The Phantom’s body has been much altered, and not just at the back. Look at that narrow cabin — it looks more like that of a tractor rather than of ‘the best car in the world’.

But perhaps the Phantom wasn’t such a strange choice for in-motion filming purposes. The car is strong enough to hold all the equipment and is also quiet and stable at speed. Some say this one was used for filming the motoring scenes in Lawrence of Arabia (which boasts a number of on-screen Rolls-Royces) as well as in several Bond films (there’s a Phantom III in Goldfinger). It makes us wonder how many other films have Rolls-Royces in the background.

A quick web search did lead to another photo of the same car in the Getty Images archive, now with a camera mounted on a platform, placed very low at the car’s front. It comes with a caption that reads: “Pinewood Studios, London, 1st February 1962. A 1930 Rolls Royce Phantom car used at the studio for filming. The movie camera can be seen mounted on its tripod at the front of the vehicle.”

Now, you were quick to identify the rolling chassis seen here with ABBA-man Björn Ulvaeus recently (click here if you missed it). Similarly, we came across another picture of the Rolls showing registration number UW 8657, and we’re sure some of you will be able to deduce more from that. So… what’s the story of this most unusual camera car and what happened to it?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture source unknown.

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